Phoenix Suns (1-0) v Utah Jazz (2-0)
Friday 10/6/2017 6pm
Vivint Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City, UT
Arizona Sports 98.7FM
2016-17 Season Series – Utah won 3-0
All-Time Series – Phoenix leads 91-85
Last Matchup – Utah won 106-101
Suns’ Last Game – Win over the Portland Trail Blazers 114-112
Jazz’ Last Game – Win over the Maccabee Haifa B.C. 117-78
2016-17 Suns’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 107.7 (9th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 113.3 (30th of 30)
2016-17 Jazz’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 100.7 (28th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 96.8 (1st of 30)
Preview
Don’t get me wrong, it’s still the preseason. And when the Suns came back from down 12 in the fourth quarter to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers by two points in the Beaver State, they did so against the Blazers’ second and third strings. Then again, it was the Suns’ second and third strings too that brought Phoenix from the brink of an 0-1 start, and in the end: a win is a win for this young team, and boy was that one fun.
Troy Daniels led the bench unit in scoring with15 points, all coming from beyond the arc, but it was Alex Len’s 14 points and 13 rebounds in 29 minutes that was most impressive, all coming in the second half. In Josh Jackson’s rookie debut, the former Kansas Jayhawk drained 5-12 from the field including 2-3 from three for 14 points, while T.J. Warren led all scorers with 24 points on his expected efficient shooting percentage of 60.0% from the field and 6-7 from the charity stripe.
For more on the Suns’ comeback victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, read here.
We’ll definitely get more into the Suns’ recent struggles with the Utah Jazz when they meet for the first time in the regular season, but it is worth noting that the Jazz have won seven straight in the regular season against Phoenix dating back to December 2015. Even during a Phoenix period of rebuilding, now that Gordon Hayward is in Boston, hopefully the Suns can finally break through at some point and snap that streak. With the two team’s facing each other in back-to-back matchups over the next couple of nights, it will be a good indication of how the Suns fare against the new, and undoubtedly diminished, Jazz.
Utah is a perfect 2-0 so far in this preseason with both of their outings coming against non-NBA opponents. First with a victory over the Sydney Kings on Monday, then with a win over the Macabee Haifa on Wednesday. This outing with the Suns will thus be the Jazz’ first against an American NBA team this season.
In the Jazz’ game against Macabee, Utah used 16 players, three more than the regular season active roster will allow, each player scoring at least two points.
Interesting Statistics
Phoenix Suns
1. Last season the Suns scored over 100 points against the Jazz twice, 105 and 101. That was only the fourth and fifth times that the Suns had broken the 100 points mark in the last 19 meetings between the two, dating back to April 24, 2012.
2. Over those 19 meetings the Suns have averaged 90.94 points against Utah.
3. In the regular season, the Utah Jazz are still one of seven teams that Earl Watson has not defeated yet as a head coach. The others are the Brooklyn Nets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks, and Washington Wizards.
Next: Three fun goals for the 2017-18 Phoenix Suns
Utah Jazz
1. While the Suns managed to score over 100 points twice in their three matchups against Utah last season, the Jazz averaged only 97.3. points per game. That being said, Phoenix was actually tied for the 14th highest team average that Utah allowed an opponent to score.
2. Although a very good defensive team, if the Jazz themselves didn’t score many points, they weren’t going to win that way. In Utah victories last season, the Jazz averaged 105.3 points per game. However, in losses, the Jazz scored only 93.1, a dramatic drop of 12.2 points per game. (Luckily for them, the Suns allowed a league worst 113.3 points per game to their opponents so Utah’s 103.0 against Phoenix proved to be more than enough to secure the sweep.)
3. Over the last five preseasons, plus the two games they have played so far in this preseason, the Jazz are 17-20 for a 45.9% winning percentage. Does it mean anything? Absolutely not. However, over that same stretch, the Jazz have a 48.0% winning percentage in the regular season, so, take from that what you will. Or don’t. It really doesn’t matter.